Shafaq News / Iraq’ President, Barham Salih stressed, on Monday, to intensify the national and international forces to uncover the fate of the kidnapped Yazidis and to legislate the Yazidi survivors law.

The Presidency said in a statement, President Barham Salih praised the Yazidi activist Nadia Murad while receiving her at the Peace Palace (Al-Salam) in Baghdad.

Salih appreciated efforts by Nadia Murad for helping women and children who are victims of abuse and human trafficking; he also praised sacrifices and courage shown by her and her Yezidi peers against the ISIS terrorism.

The Iraqi President confirmed his strong supports to securing the voluntary, safe and dignified return of the displaced Yazidis and all Iraqis who were forced to leave their areas.

Salih expressed his hope for the Iraqi Parliament to speed-up the legislation of the Yazidi female survivor’s law, in addition to cooperate with security agencies and international community to reveal the fate of the missing and kidnapped people.

For her part, Activist Nadia Murad, expressed her gratitude to the Iraqi president for his support to the Yazidis issue, and confirmed her continuing work for the Yazidis and those affected by terrorism.

Nadia Murad was born in Kojo, Iraq. She belongs to the Yazidi ethnic and religious minority. When she was 19 years old, ISIS attacked her village and killed 600 Yazidi men, including several of her family members. Murad and other young women were taken prisoner and subjected to beatings and rape. She managed to escape, however, and make her way to a refugee camp. There she was offered the opportunity to move to Germany, where she now lives.

Murad now works to help women and children who are victims of abuse and human trafficking.

She was appointed the United Nations’ Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking in 2016 and received several accolades. 

In 2018 she was a co-recipient, with Congolese physician Denis Mukwege, of the Nobel Prize for Peace.